Apparatus for separating and collecting particles of one liquid suspended in another liquid.



' t F. G. GOTTRELL & J B. SPEED.

APPARATUS IOR SEPARATING AND COLLEGTING PARTICLES OF ONE LIQUID SUSPENDED IN ANOTHER LIQUID.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 20, 1909. RENEWED OUT. 12, 1910. 987,116

I' I I Patented Mar. 21-, 1911.

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v ya 11414 flak/5(a), 25 564 56 7 MA W F. G. GOTTRELL & J. B. SPEED.

ING AND COLLECTING PARTICLES OF ONE LIQUID SUSPENDED IN ANOTHER LIQUID. APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1909. RENEWED DOT. 12 1910.

987,116, I I Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

LPPA IATUS FOB SEPARAT 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK GARDNER COTTBELL AND JAMES BUG-KNEE SPEED,'0E BERKELEY, CALI:

FOBNIA, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO PETROLEUM BECTIFYING COM- PANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

ALPIPARATUS .roza snrnzan'rme AND COLLECTING PARTICLES or our. LIQUID SUSPENDED m ANOTHER LIQUID.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. e1, 1911.

Application filed May 20, 1909, Serial No. 497,168. Renewed October 12, 1910. Serial No. 586,785.

To all whom it my concern:

Be it known t-hat we, FREDERICK GARDNER COTTRELL and JAM S BUCKNER SPEED, citizens of the United States, residing at Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Separating and Collecting Particles'of One Liquid Suspended in Another Liquid, of

whlchthe following is a specification.

Our invention relates to apparatus used in the separation and collectionof fine particles of one liquid suspended in another, and may serve to carry out the process of separating and collecting such ,particles which forms the. subject matter of a contempora neous application Serial Number 497,167 filed May 20 1909, and which may be briefly and" generally stated to consist in causing the mixture to be separated to flow, under proper conditions, between electrodes charged to high difi erenceslof electrical potential,whereby the fine particles are caused to aggregate into larger masses which then readily" separate-owing to the difi'erences in buoyancy of the .two liquids.

In an apparatus for this purpose it is desirable that the material t5 be treated be delivered to the electrodes in as limpid and pended in oil, under the influence o cient working of the method that the electricfield between the electrodes be as strong z as-is consistent with the avoidance of de- 4 homogeneous state as possible, and flow in a perfectly uniform manner past the electrodes, preferably .in the same general direction in which t-he'aggregating masses tend to move under, the buoyant-forces, for example, downward, in thecase of water'droplets sus- It is furthermore essential to the most efii structive; disruptive discharges and short circuits, and thatthe arrangement of electrodes and conditions of flow of the material under treatment-he such that all of the slatterpass uniformly through said electric field. v

An ap aratus fulfilling these requirements descri ed -bel'ow, and Illustrates, to then with its accessory parts, the type 0 construction which constitutes the resent invention and is cempwying s sgenerically define in the acg ration of the oil and wat'erjis accomplished,

Having reference to the accompan ing draW1ngsFigure 1 is a general view 0 the complete apparatus diagrammatically illustrated in one 6f its simplest forms. Fig. 2 is a plan of the electrically treating vessel. Fig. 3 shows the details of a special type of electrodes. a

p In Fig. 1 A is a vessel containing the oil undergoing the electrical treatment and itself serves as one of the electrodes being connected to the ground and also to one of the high potential terminals of the step-up transform r T.' The other high potential terminal 1? the transformer is connected to the electrode 0 represented in the figure as an inner shell concentric-with the Wall of the vessel A and supported thereon by the insulators I, I I and the spider S. The

are'connected through the amm'eter M and regulating rheost-at R with the electric service mains, as, for example, an incandescent lighting circuit.

is receivedthrough the pipe P, and'is heated to any desired temperature for the purpose of decreasing its viscosity, bythe injection of live steam through" the ipe Q. The other inlet U serves to intro uce either oil already treated, or sludge or even water. The mixture entersthe top'of the treating vessel through the tangentially directed jets p, 10 12 p thus insuring a'thorough. mixing anduniform composition at the top of steady motion of the surface ofthe-liquid in the funnel shaped to at right angles to the lines of forceof the e ectric field, th11$1essen ing the tendenc to electrical leakage, and break-down in t e surface layers. The-niaterial 'thussupplied to the to of the vessel space around the inner plectrode where the electrical treatment chiefly and ing vessel A through the pipe D which is of large enough diameter to insure a. quiet flow free from churning that might tend to reemulsify the separating liquids, The pipe D' discharges into the settling tan-k E, preferably its lower. portion, where the final sepalow potential terminals of the transformer The oil and water mixture to be treated.

the treatin vessel, as well as ooc'asioning a flows uniformly down t'nroug the annular .95

1s finally carried outof the bottom of thetreatl the latter being residual sludge, the purified oil through the outlet G which drawn ofl togetherwith any through the out-let 'F and latter is preferably so constructed as to allow of a vertical adjustment of its intake end within the tank, as indicated in the figure by the flexible joint g, and the adjusting cord 9 passing over the pulleys g 9 As for any given rate of flow, the level in I the tank E also determines the level in the vessel A, this adjustment serves to control -the level of material in vessel A.

The chief reason for adopting the funnel shaped top for the vessel A lies in our discovery that it is essential for the proper working of the method not to allow the es sentially active surfaces of the electrodes (by which term is to be understood those portions which are in suflicient proximity to theelectrode of opposite polarity to bereally efiicient in producing coalescence of the intervening suspended particles) to emerge from the liquid undergoing treatment into the air, or even come too close to the surface of contact betwen air and liquid in close proximity to one another; for when top of the vessel, the only portion pendedelectrode C which comes into thesethis happens there is a decided tendency for the part ally agglomerated water to collect in these surface layers and cause short circuiting of the electrodes. fore, be taken to have the active portion of the electrodes deeply immersed in the liquid under treatment, as is the case in the illustration, On account of the funnelshaped surface layers is at so 'much greater distance from the wall of the vessel than its deeper active portion, as to occasionno difliculty. In this same connection, a further advantage of the above described arrangement lies in the fact that the upper surface of the material in the treating vessel is continually renewed and stirred y the inflow of untreated oil which is a better insulator than" that which is in the. incipient stages of chain building and coalescence in the'deeper parts of the vessel, thus still further reducing the tendency to surface Ieakage.- Reference to Fig.- 1, will also make it evident that one of H the essential features of'our arrangement is the supporting of the inner electrode on tirely free from solid bodies of any'material whatsoever below the surface of the liquidunder treatment, for even if such supports were made of the'very best solid insulators known, they would soon become coated with conducting of water, and short circuit the electrodes. The downward direction of flowbetween the active electrode surfaces is also an important detail as it prevents the danger of short circuits from' an accumulation, of water-rich masses between the electrodes which are very apt to result if an upward flow is used, as in this latter case the the heating Care must, there'- of the sus-.

g'ravitative tendenc of the enlarged droplets is partly oflset y the buoyant action of the upward current of liquid.

Another feature of the above described apparatus which deserves special mention is of the oil by injection of steam directly into .it. This method of heating although one of the most eflicient and convenient possible, is inadvisable in mostcases other than the present, because of the finely emulsified condition in which the condensed water is apt to be leftin the oil. In the present case this feature is so specifically provided for by the subsequent (electrical treatment as to present no drawback, and hence the combination with the rest of the apparatus of this means of rendering the oil more fluid and adaptable to the electrical and settling treatment becomes an es.-,

sential part of our apparatus.-

, A mod ficatlon of electrode surface 15 shown 111 Fig. This consists 111 surrounding the central shell C with a cylinder CT of.-v

pe'rvious conducting material such as wire screen attached thereto and so corrugated as to form a set of circular ribs. Another similar cylinder C is fitted to the inner wall of the containing vessel, the relation of the corrugations of the two cylinders when in adtwo are at essentially the same distance apart throughout, and their relative diameters being such as to allow the inner to be inserted in or withdrawn from the outer one without deformation of either, as indicated lnthe figure. These corrugations may be produced either by pressing or rolling the screen as a whole or may be built up by unitmg strips cut to the proper size and sha e, and the corrugations may be either disust-ment being such thatthe surface of the.

tinctly angular as shown or rounded or sinubus, the objectof such structure being to bring all parts of the material imder treatment during its downward flow under as nearly as possible the same condition as regards distance fromelectrodes.

Having thus described our inventiomwhat weclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In an apparatus for separating and.

collecting particles of one liquid suspended in another, the combination of a containing vessel, and a connected to a high potential source of electricity the relative position of electrodes of opposite polarity being maintained by insulating supports which are entirely out of system of electrodes therein,-

contact with the liquid undergoing treat ment, said electrodes being so arranged as to maintain in the deeper layers of the material tov be treated an electric field of sulficient intensity to cause coalescence of the suspended particles, and said electrodes beingfurther so layers of said material, those of opposite that in the surface polarity are at such distance apartthat the electrical field between them is weaker than of opposite polarity; and means for dis-.

in said deeper layers of the material.

.2. In an apparatus for separating and collecting particles of one liquid suspended in another, the combination of a containing vessel; a system of electrodes therein connected to a high potential source of electricity the relative position of electrodes of opposite polarity beingmaintained by insulating supports which are entirely out of contact with the liquid undergoing-treatment; means for delivering the mixture of liquids to be treated upon the surface of the mass of liquid in said containing vessel in the form of streams crossing the direction of the electric force lines between the electrodes charging the contents of said containing vessel from its lower end.

3. In an apparatus for separating and collecting particles of one liquid suspended in another, the combination of a containing \vessel;'a system of electrodes therein connected to a high potential source of electricit means for delivering the mixture of liqui s to be treated upon the surface of the mass of liquid in said containing vessel in the form of streams crossing the direction of the electric force lines between the electrodes of opposite polarity; a settling reservoir into which the contents of the containing vessel is discharged means for discharging the heavier of the two liquids from the lower portions of said reservoir; and means for dischar 'ing the lighter of the two liquids from t e upper portions of said reservoir.

4. In an apparatus for separating and collecting particles of one liquid suspended in another, the combination of a vertically disposed vessel of electrically conducting material having a funnel shaped top; an elecrespectively, tothe two poles of a high potential source of electricity.

5. In an apparatus for separating and collecting particles of one liquid suspended in another, the combination of a vertically disposed vessel of electrically conducting material having a funnel shaped top; an electrically conducting shell of smaller diameter within, concentric with and electrically insulated from said vessel by suitable supports disposed at the upper ends of said vessel and shell; means for delivering the material to be treated to the top of said vessel; a settling reservoir communicating with the bottom of said vessel through a suitable conduit; and an overflow outlet, adjustable as to height, for said settling reservoir, by

means of which the level of the material in the funnel shaped top of the first named vessel may be regulated and controlled under various rates of flow of the material being treated. i

6. In an apparatus for separating and collecting particles of one liquid suspended in another, the combination ofa containing vessel; a system of electrodes therein connected to a high potential source of electricity; a pipe for delivering the mixture of liquids to be treated to said vessel; and a steam jet entering said pipe to inject live steam into said mixture to heat it on its way v to said electrode system.

7. In an apparatus for separating and collecting particles of one liquid suspended'in another, the combination of a containin vessel; a system of electrodes within sai vessel comprising vertical concentric corrugated. pervious cylinders of electrically conducting material connected to a high-voltage source of electricity; means for supplying the mixture of liquids to be treated to the top of said vessel; and means for withdrawing said material from the bottom of said vessel after treatment.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. v

FREDERICK GARDNER OOTTRELL. JAMES BUGKNER SPEED. Witnesses:

WM. F. BooTH, D. B. RIOHARDS. 

